Ravine Vineyard Restaurant

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St. David’s, Ontario Wine Country

We often hear from eating establishment owners that they source their ingredients locally. It is a sign of the time and appeals to our senses. At Ravine Vineyard Restaurant, sourcing locally is taken to an entirely different level. They raise their own pigs and produce their own charcuterie (cold cuts) and sausages. They grow their own organic vegetables, bake their own bread, make their own preserves and truly apply the much-touted farm to table concept. The menu will reflect that seasonally and sometimes even weekly depending on freshness and availability.

The restaurant overlooks a large part of the vineyard. It is a rustic design nicely fitting in the surroundings and certainly complementing the tasting building which is an historical structure. In its basement, the meats are cured in a temperature-controlled room near the cellar area. Think of it as the blending of the old and the new (in fact it is truly high-tech!).

They do recommend reserving your table, and I concur, as walk-ins are not easily accommodated due to high demand. When you get there, try their wines in the tasting room. The product is of excellent quality. My personal favorites are the Cabernet Franc and the Meritage. The Riesling and Chardonnay are offered at two levels.

The tasting room is very cozy and the point of sale is at the end of it. A short corridor leads to the small retail store.

The menu, like the setting, is very rustic and simple in its design. The charcuterie board will change with the availability of the cold meats. There is usually a salami, a German and/or Spanish style sausage, a cured bacon and other traditional offerings.

The cheese board will also feature the available cheeses for the day. The presentation for both is elegant and supplemented with preserves and country mustard all made in the restaurant’s kitchen.

Charcuterie Board. Photo by Mel Gedruj

Cheese Board. Photo by Mel Gedruj

For lunch, they do have house-made burgers with fries and mussels—both excellent. The soup of the day when we visited was a cream befitting the season.

House-Made Burger. Photo by Mel Gedruj

Mussels. Photo by Mel Gedruj

Seasonal Soup. Photo by Mel Gedruj

On our table, we had the Meritage as it was deemed a “lighter” wine for the fare we ordered versus the Cabernet Franc.

This is a place where food and wine are equally taken very seriously. It is worth noting that it was listed as one of the world’s best 20 restaurants in 2011. But then again, behind this daily quality production, there is a leadership that trained and worked with the very best chefs of our time.

Make a point of visiting and spend time tasting the excellent wines and food available at Ravine Vineyard in St. David.

MEL GEDRUJ is a Licensed Ontario Architect and Certified Security Project Manager. He is also an acclaimed olive oil connoisseur, who was certified as an Olive Oil Taster by the ONAOO in Imperia, Liguria , Italy. ONAOO is the national olive oil tasters association (oliveoil.org.). He also writes a blog (donemilio.ca).